Ratings Chart Attack!

The first season of Fox’s well-performing “Moment of Truth” ended with ratings on par with last week, while “American Idol” posted a three-year low on Wednesday. Meanwhile, CBS’ drama returns didn’t fare as well as the return of its Monday comedy block.

According to preliminary Nielsen numbers, “Truth” ended the night with a 4.1 rating/12 share in the 18- to 49-year-old age group, tying its season-to-date average. Unfortunately for “Truth,” it did not follow through with its promise of the fall of Western civilization via embarrassing questions about underwear.

“Idol” (9.1/23) faced some competition from the returning “Criminal Minds” on CBS, and slipped 7% week-to-week. The dip gave “Idol” its lowest rating on any night since March 2005, excluding specials.

Fox won the night with a 6.6/18.

A second-place CBS (3.1/8) came back with original episodes of “Criminal Minds” (3.4/9) and “CSI: NY” (3.6/10), minus the trumpeting that heralded the return of its Monday comedy block two weeks ago—and without the success of those shows.

It was a solid showing for the crime procedurals, but “Criminal’s” 3.4 was the second-lowest rating for an original episode this season. “CSI: NY” jumped 24% from its last original showing in February, which was the lowest original rating ever for the “CSI” franchise.

“Big Brother” led off the night, drawing an on-par 2.2/7.

ABC’s (2.0/5) Wednesday reality shows were off the mark, with “Wife Swap” (2.0/6) down 13% from last week and “Supernanny” (2.3/6) on par with last week’s repeat but down 21% from its season-to-date average.

“Men in Trees” (1.5/4) was flat with last week.

NBC (1.8/5) ran a new “Deal or No Deal” (2.0/6) along with “Law & Order” repeats.

“America’s Next Top Model” (1.9/6, 2.2/7 in the 18- to 34-year-old age group) finished strong for The CW in a tight, reality-heavy 8 p.m. hour. “Model” hit a season record in terms of total viewers with 4.1 million, and was up slightly from last week.

“Pussycat Dolls Presents: Girlicious” (0.7/2) was flat from last week.

The CW ended the night with a 1.3/4 and a 1.5/4 in the 18-34 demo.